Table of contents
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22nd pictures
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Elephant meeting 2011
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Celebrate and camp at six degrees below freezing.
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Snow chains are one of the most popular and important accessories at every elephant meeting.
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Elephant meeting 2011
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Elephant meeting 2011
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Elephant meeting 2011
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Motorcycle circular saw conversion at the 2011 elephant meeting.
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Elephant meeting 2011
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Elephant meeting 2011
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Kawasaki trike conversion at the 2011 elephant meeting.
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Elephant meeting 2011: Honda Goldwings with fold-out training wheels.
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Elefantentreffen 2011: Handlebar tuning for freezing temperatures.
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Elephant meeting 2011
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Elephant meeting 2011
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Elephant meeting 2011
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Elephant meeting 2011
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Elephant meeting 2011
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The winter tire discussion was a big topic at the 2011 elephant meeting.
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Elephant meeting 2011
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Elephant meeting 2011
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Elefantentreffen 2011: The visitors of the winter meeting brought nice and cold weather to the Bavarian Forest.
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Elefantentreffen 2011: Aids are expressly desired in the adverse conditions and are well represented.
Sports & scene
Events
The 23rd elephant meeting in the Bavarian Forest
Elephant meeting in the Bavarian Forest
The 23rd elephant meeting in the Bavarian Forest
Why winter tires? When you can use cable ties as snow chains! With individual solutions, the visitors defied nonsensical laws, freezing cold and all common sense. But had a lot of fun.
Michael Schumann
02/16/2011
Jan, the Dutch, is something like a native of the “cauldron”. Since sometime in the nineties, his rat bike team has been carrying him from the Netherlands to Lower Bavaria every year. And every year the Honda looks a lot rancid with the oily four-cylinder. And every year Jan looks more yeti-like in his thick layers of fur. Hexenkessel, that’s what the elephant meeting drivers call the pasture slopes below the hamlet of Loh.
4,300 motorcyclists from literally all of Europe plus 2,100 day guests met on the last weekend of January on the steep terrain, which at its lowest point forms a kind of natural amphitheater and belongs to the local stock car club. The cold – at night it was minus twelve degrees between the tents – had never been able to deter the elephant drivers, mostly repeat offenders like Jan for many years. Nevertheless, the success of the meeting this year seemed more dubious than ever, as the Federal Ministry of Transport had the “situational winter tire requirement” also proclaimed for motorcycles. The nonsensical law was a big issue, if not for Jan, then for the organizer, the Federal Association of Motorcyclists (BVDM). Because there are no winter tires for the vast majority of motorcycles, the BVDM invited the responsible politicians to the elephant meeting. One even followed the request: On Saturday morning, Andreas Scheuer (CSU), State Secretary in the Ministry of Transport with constituency in nearby Passau, accepted the offer. His vague conclusion: The winter tire requirement for motorcycles still applies in snow and ice, but you can talk about it again for the year. Spoke and disappeared back into the company car.
The participants in the meeting did not really notice anything of the short visit of the tie wearer, which was designed to be effective in the media. It was more important for her to cure the aftermath of the cold night. A lot of coffee can help, and one or the other breakfast beer popped up by the freshly lit campfire: “This is how men do wellness, cheers.”
Stefan from Kelheim (Bay.) Wanted to enjoy this wellness program to the maximum: “I arrived here with my Maico on Wednesday.” He had bought the aged two-stroke engine three years ago especially for the elephant meeting in order to spare his Honda the salt, the ice and the consequences of possible slips. “But I’ve grown so fond of the good piece that I now drive it all year round,” he grins. In this way, men’s wellness can also lead to a bond for life.
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4,300 bikers came to the traditional meeting.
20 meters further down the slope, Franz from Straubing starts his 350 XT. The small enduro stands on the main stand, the rear wheel rotates freely in the air. Franz ?? Friends push a wooden box, which is firmly connected to the rear axle by means of a threaded rod, and off you go: the Yamaha drives the circular saw specially designed for the meeting via a friction wheel. The solid cubic meter of spruce wood is professionally chopped up in no time, and the Straubing bikers can heat up again.
Meanwhile, the Swiss Dominik has dismantled the stern of his Dnepr and spread the oily parts on the ground in front of him: “Has a toothache again,” he smiles and holds up the eaten drive shaft towards the audience – at the elephant meeting almost every action with a motorcycle finds its audience. Sheared teeth tore holes in a metal lid. “I can seal that and the parts are ordered.” Dominik has gone to the rest. “If it doesn’t work, I weld everything in place and drive home with the sidecar drive.” As a Dnepr driver, the Basler knows every screw in his team with their first and last names written in Cyrillic.
Speaking of names: A green elephant in the form of a Zundapp KS 601, after which the meeting is named, could not be seen in 2011, at least from MOTORRAD. Probably its older and bigger sister model: Like a monument, a beautifully restored KS 750 was parked right next to the main entrance to the site, which could be admired worldwide via webcam for the duration of the meeting at www.bvdm.de..
The two thick gold wings with Spanish license plates that stood opposite the Wehrmacht Zundapp were also greatly admired. Just in case, their owners had equipped the two brand new 400 kilo trucks with folding support wheels. Some participants from Russia also demonstrated idiosyncratic methods. To protect himself against the cold, one of them had upgraded his Varadero team with a full covering of sleeping mats. Others appeared in the colorful traditional costumes of their homeland, which they had pulled over their biker clothes – according to the matryoshka doll principle. Valera Tulinov came from Chelabinsk to the elephant meeting and earned the award for the longest journey: 5600 kilometers. Less far, but just as remarkable: Ed, James and Glenn, who had traveled from Great Britain on three Honda Cub 90s. Why not with big bikes? “James is not allowed to drive it, he only passed the moped driver’s license on the day of departure. If you just stop to refuel, it’s the same with the little ones …
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